What's everyone seeing around for turkey action? After the worse february on record things were looking bleak....but from my sightings over the past week, the birds seemed to have fared well. Saw a few different flocks this afternoon...about 50 birds today (17 longbeards in the mix). Everyone seemed to be far more interested in scratching up the fields than they were in romance. Can't blame them after what they been through for the past 6-7 weeks. Man, are the deer out everywhere too!!!
Seeing birds here in C.T. Also hearing gobbles for over a week now. I was extremly worried but feel much better now. We rent a camp in NY for the month of May and the owner said he has seen a lot of birds now that you can see some bare spots.
Still too much snow on the ground here in Maine to get a real sense. I have, however, seen turkeys on occasion this winter. Make no mistake, it has been a rough winter. But these birds are tough and resilient. Whatever we do lose, the population will eventually rebound.
I'm from New Yawk and I'm scouting this weekend. I will advise you of my observations.
Im in Western New York and I've been seeing some turkeys in fields. Seems like the winter didn't affect them much. Actually seen one strutting too last week.
:funnyturkey: Seen a few in Southern Maine and New Hampshire. I hope it is a good sign. We need some warmer weather to help out.
Not seeing much at all in my neck of the woods. Calling for another 5" of snow here tomorrow. Still have almost a foot down in many places.
Saw a group of about 10-12 today moving across an open grass spot (in a southern exposed hillside field). What a brutal past 6 weeks they've survived!
Same conditions and forecast here in the upper Hudson Valley, NY as where beagler is.
No strutters yet in cooperstown
Despite getting snow right now I plan on scouting a place tomorrow, need to set out some cameras.
My buddy in NY had been seeing them strutting and gobbling every morning in Greene county. I'm sure a few birds didn't make it through the winter but they are tough creatures.
Quote from: TauntoHawk on March 20, 2015, 07:48:44 AM
Despite getting snow right now I plan on scouting a place tomorrow, need to set out some cameras.
My buddy in NY had been seeing them strutting and gobbling every morning in Greene county. I'm sure a few birds didn't make it through the winter but they are tough creatures.
I expect to see my first strutters any day now. You sure have a sweet place to hunt over there in Greene County... :you_rock:
Saw 4 strutters and a bunch of hens last Sat. :icon_thumright:
I agree. I don't know how anything could have lived through the past6 weeks those animals did here in NH.
:z-winnersmiley: What part of NH are you in? The seacoast has more snow than inland. I hope it clears out. Al Baker
The birds are definately out and about...but no signs of any strutting action around here yet. It sure doesn't feel like spring out there today...
I've worked the last 2 weekends so next weekend I will be scouting fairly hard for turkey and deer.Hoping the snow is close to gone and it's a bit warmer.We shall see.I have seen flocks of birds here and there but no stutters yet
Quote from: zelmo1 on March 22, 2015, 07:20:57 AM
:z-winnersmiley: What part of NH are you in? The seacoast has more snow than inland. I hope it clears out. Al Baker
Franklin. Smack dab in the middle! ;D
Quote from: WNY Bowhunter on March 20, 2015, 10:10:03 PM
Quote from: TauntoHawk on March 20, 2015, 07:48:44 AM
Despite getting snow right now I plan on scouting a place tomorrow, need to set out some cameras.
My buddy in NY had been seeing them strutting and gobbling every morning in Greene county. I'm sure a few birds didn't make it through the winter but they are tough creatures.
I expect to see my first strutters any day now. You sure have a sweet place to hunt over there in Greene County... :you_rock:
Thanks man, i certainly feel lucky and blessed. While I scouted public land here and found one set of gobbler tracks in the snow, my buddy took a drive and put eyes on 23 total longbeards on 3 of the main farms we hunt. They certainly will spread out a lot more as these are farms that winter large flocks
Saw a small flock in Newmarket but that is all
:fud: :OGani: In southeastern Mass. gobbling activity in Plymouth and Rochester, birds seem to have made it well thru winter, better than wet weather at hatching. :OGturkeyhead:
I saw a Tom in full strut about two weeks ago in Cayuga county NY.
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I am in northern (as north as you get) NY and saw my first strutting toms yesterday. Another group again this morning.
:funnyturkey: No strutting or gobbling yet here in southern Maine, but they are coming out more now. I have seen many more Toms than hens
Although not an ideal morning for it, I just got in from field testing my new Hooks crow call = my first gobbles of the year!!! :icon_thumright:
Saw a group of 8 toms/jakes last night.2 were really nice birds
I'm from Sussex co NJ right on the Orange co NY line. Seeing birds, strut, gobble, etc. decent flocks but the numbers each year seem to go down.
Well, some really good news in central Maine. On my way to work this morning I spotted a flock of perhaps 10-15 burds in a distant field. Way too far to determine sex or any strutting activity. When I got home from work around 4:30 I took a little drive to check some areas that I do not necessarily hunt, but are easily glassed from the road. The first spot held a flock of 26 birds, all feeding. There were several longbeards in the mix, and one or two birds strutting. Other locations revealed more birds as well.
So, despite the very harsh winter, it appears as though the birds fared well. I am always amazed at the toughness and the will to survive. I keep telling myself that if these birds could not survive Maine winters, they wouldn't be here.
Just passed a flock on the drive home. The ground still has snow but melted out beneath trees and south facing slopes. A Vermont tom in full strut.
Saw a bearded hen this am.She had a 6 or 7 in beard,and I saw the same flock I saw the other day.Now I need to gain permission on that farm
I don't anticipate record number but they certainly survive better than you think they would. I wouldn't be surprised to see less jakes, the young birds would be the ones I'd think would fair the worst.
Here in Maryland and Delaware the birds are still in big flocks but very visable in fields now. Gobblers are strutting and there is limited gobbling on roost.
I saw a two year old gobbler with a few jakes and hens. No sign of breeding activity yet.
I've been seeing birds . Seems like everytime I drive out the 90 there are birds by the big quarry just outside Buffalo.
I did a second scouting run this afternoon and saw some birds. Lots of hens and a couple jakes. One young gobbler/ super jake. 5" beard and no strutting or gobbling.
Had one gobbling to my coyote howls this morning.
No Gobbling over the weekend in my Central PA spots.
It's been a Sloooow year! Normally, they would be gobbling up a storm across the road on the mountain by now. 1 morning had some activity for about 1st 1/2 hour. Nothing in the evenings. I've seen a few, so I know they are there.
:OGani:
I had quite a bit of turkey activity on my trail cams over the past week. After what these poor little birds have endured over the past two months, I'll almost feel bad to kill one of them in a few weeks...
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/WNYBowhunter/IMAG0597.jpg) (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/WNYBowhunter/media/IMAG0597.jpg.html)
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/WNYBowhunter/IMAG0604.jpg) (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/WNYBowhunter/media/IMAG0604.jpg.html)
Except for these these two...
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/WNYBowhunter/IMAG0046.jpg) (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/WNYBowhunter/media/IMAG0046.jpg.html)
Heck, I might even kill their little anorexic buddy in the front too... :fud:
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/WNYBowhunter/IMAG0047.jpg) (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/WNYBowhunter/media/IMAG0047.jpg.html)
Calling for more snow here tomorrow night God Times! ::)
Turkeys out all over today, saw several strutters. Despite the crappy weather the birds are getting in the mood!!! :gobble:
Had two gobbling their brains out this morning here in north east PA.
Got a pic from my buddy Sat of about 30 birds, so they're around. Our average in my area of VT for Jan and Feb was 6, and I don't think we hit a day above 13 degrees for 6 weeks.
Quote from: WNY Bowhunter on March 31, 2015, 07:24:30 PM
Turkeys out all over today, saw several strutters. Despite the crappy weather the birds are getting in the mood!!! :gobble:
you seeing many jakes? I'm thinking the birds that took it the hardest would be the ones in their first year
Quote from: TauntoHawk on April 01, 2015, 08:37:24 AM
Quote from: WNY Bowhunter on March 31, 2015, 07:24:30 PM
Turkeys out all over today, saw several strutters. Despite the crappy weather the birds are getting in the mood!!! :gobble:
you seeing many jakes? I'm thinking the birds that took it the hardest would be the ones in their first year
I haven't noticed many, but most of my flock sightings have been from a distance. I did see a trio of fat jakes fighting yesterday...one of them was all fanned out. Seems to be a bunch of smaller birds mixed in the flocks that I've seen so there has to be some jakes around.
I'm in upstate NY. There's still too much snow where I hunt to do any real scouting right now. We took a ride around a few other areas the other night just to see what was around. Most of the birds we saw are still separated into hen and tom groups and mostly in groups of 5-8 birds. We did find one flock with 45 birds that I could count through binoculars from about 500 yards. The toms were getting a bit wild and they were chasing each other all over the field. Only one of them strutted. It was nice to finally be able to get out and see some signs of spring. It's supposed to be in the 50's for the next 2 days and then back into the 20's by Sunday. This just won't ever end this year.
From South Jersey...I have to say, this year I've seen fewer birds than I've ever seen. Almost none i the fields...I'm hoping that they're just staying in the woods and out of sight. If not, gonna' be a slim year... :(
Starting to move some up here in Maine. No gobbling or strutting yet. I did see a tom run off a couple jakes yesterday , but that was from a food source not hens.
Quote from: zelmo1 on April 02, 2015, 05:47:46 AM
Starting to move some up here in Maine. No gobbling or strutting yet. I did see a tom run off a couple jakes yesterday , but that was from a food source not hens.
Saw a flock of 30 birds or so this morning that I've been watched for the past couple of weeks now...there were 5 longbearded stutters in the midst!!! Down the road a little bit here was another flock with a big ole strutter. Today finally felt as is spring is here (until this weekend)...
Yea I've been seeing them pretty regularly here.Only problem is I haven't been seeing much (till today) on properties i hunt.Had a group of 7-8 birds with a monster tom.He is known in the area.Hunted very hard the last 2 years.When you see him he is physically bigger than any other tom strutting.Massive bird,I am glad to see he has made it through another season.Now that I know hows hes been ducking me I will get my game cams over there this weekend to try and pattern him.
I have not seen much promise on my spots close to home. There are some birds but I have not seen many. Mainly just the sign of them being there. I have a feeling my "big bird" that avoided me last year was unable to dodge someone else.
Ironically, I am no less excited to get out there. :turkey2:
Birds are still flocked up, went to a new piece of public hiked a good ways in before first light. The 3rd spot I stopped and owl hooted I heard a hen cackle down off the side of a steep hill. I moved in as close as I could get but of course they were roosted about 400yds inside of private on a field so I had to sit up on a point and listen. Boy they ripped it up! I sat there til 9 when the wind picked. I did have 4 jakes come gobbling and strutting up the hill into the public with me and could see 6 round fans down in the fields and there was still at least another 5 gobbling in a hollow I never did see.
I'm hoping when the birds break up they will filter up into the timber more.